Sylva's Revenge
by Shiary
Summary: Sylva Argentum finally has the chance to get revenge on the Niflheim who dared attack her son. Spin off of my Cure Au Series
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This was inspired by Last Resort by Cid_Raines and by the fact that Ravus' action didn't make much sense to me while I was going through the game until I started thinking of his anger towards Regis as a coping mechanism. My HeadCanon is that Ravus' anger towards the King of Lucis is a coping mechanism to safely get angry towards something without his anger and frustration putting his sister in danger while under Niflheims control. ( /works/10440720)

Lance stared at his computer screen in surprise, he was looking through the email's sent to him through his job as a professional speaker not really expecting to receive anything that would convince him to leave his family and his new, highly enjoyable job as Refugee Liaison for the Crown. A title Ventus created after he saw Lance working so hard to help the many refugees and the Kingsglaive; it meant that the man now had a seat at every council meeting and a lot more work but Lance didn't mind it at all as the many smiles he received were rewarding.

Now as he reread the email requesting his presence for the opening week of a new conference center, Lance held mix feelings about it. He reached for his phone, sending Sylva a quick message asking her to come see him as soon as she had time and then set the email aside until she could get here. He kept going through the rest of the messages until a knock on the door interrupted his actions. He beamed as his lovely wife, still in her scrubs, opened the door and peaked in, ''Is everything ok Lance?''

Lance leaned back with a smile, ''I need your opinion on something if you don't mind?'' Sylva moved in, closing the door behind her as she walked over to look at what seemed to be the problem. Her reaction matched Lance's initially but the wide grin that followed and sparkling eye told Lance exactly what would happen next. '' I suppose I'll let them know I will be attending with you at my side.'' He gave a sigh, accepting the kiss Sylva pressed on his forehead as he started his reply to the invitation. Sylva grinned, '' I'll arrange for Prompto to stay with Cor or the Prince while we are gone. Cor does owe Prompto that weekend at the Chocobo farm.''

3 weeks later, Lance stopped the car as directed by the MT's guarding the entrance to Tenebrae and scrolled down the driver side window. ''Your authorization please.'' A man's voice sounded from the speaker while an Mt extended its hand. Lance took out the pass that had been sent to him a week ago and handed it over wordlessly. The Mt retracted it hand, turning around and walked back to scan it. Lance cast a glance to Sylva, sitting a bit too quietly for his liking in the passenger side of the car. She was staring intently at the MT's patrolling the gates leading into the city, her face showing only patience but Lance could see the cold calculating way she was looking at the mechanical infantry that was now the main weapon for the Niflheim armies.

He leaned over and whispered, ''How many ways?'' leaving the 'to destroy them' unsaid. Sylva turned and whispered back, ''Only 101 ways.'' She gave her husband a soft tender kiss before returning to her gazing. A knock on the window had them both looking at the man suddenly standing beside the car, '' My apologies Mr Argentum but I have a message for you from the Lord Regent. He wishes to invite you to stay at the Nox Fleuret Mansion for the duration of your stay in Tenebrae. He insists on it actually.'' The tone of voice and the gate keeper's words told the couple that refusing the invitation wasn't really an option. Lance smiled politely, ''Of course, it would be our honor to stay with the Lord Regent. '' The man nodded, looking bored and proceeded to return Lance's pass as he gave detailed instruction on how to reach the entrance of the manor.

As they passed through the heavily guarded gate and entered the city itself, the trace from the invasion of Niflheim a little over a year ago were still very much visible. There were Niflheim army guards patrolling the streets and MT's stationed at almost every corner throughout the city. Sylva shook her head, ''Such high security, I'm guessing it means they are having problems with resistance from the population.'' Lance hummed, ''If the reports Cor and Ventus were getting then yes, not enough for the Niflheim commander to worry about but enough to warrant extra guards and patrols.'' Sylva grinned, ''Good. This will make things that much more interesting.'' Lance shot a loving gaze at his wife, knowing exactly what she meant.

As they approached the mansion surrounded by trees, the couple could see more details of the place. The mansion was large but what drew their gaze was the obviously new additions to the grounds. A new wire fence with cameras facing inwards was present at the edge of the property, the only road leading in or out blocked by a guarded gate and patrols were visible around the perimeter of what used to be a mansion opened to the citizens of the city. Now it looked much more like a prison then a mansion with all the security fixed on keeping people inside rather than out. Lance grew a bit nervous, approaching the heavily defended mansion to slowly stop before the gates. A man approached, wearing the uniform of a Niflheim captain and gave them a brisk salute, ''Mr Argentum?'' Lance nodded as he half leaned through the open window, ''Welcome to the Nox Fleuret mansion. Lord Regent Finor has been eagerly awaiting your arrival. Please go right in and follow the instruction of the staff once you arrive at the front doors.''

Lance replied, '' Thank you.'' Just as the man turned around and motioned for the gate to be opened. The heavy buzzing sound of machinery activating preceded the grinding sound of the gates slowly opening to allow the Argentum entrance. The drive up the long driveway was silent with Sylva looking around her and taking in all the details she could in the short time she had before they arrived at the manor itself. Waiting at the top of the steps leading to the massive front doors of the manor, stood a man dressed in red silk suit and a black overcoat, the Lord Regent Finor himself. The man gave a wide smile and opened his arm in greeting as he started walking down to meet Lance when the speaker got out of the car. '' Welcome Mr. Argentum to the lovely imperial province of Tenebrae. I am the Lord Regent appointed by his Imperial Majesty himself, Divin Finor. I hope your trip here was agreeable?''

Lance moved around the front of his old car to meet the Lord with a formal bow before he replied, '' We thank you for your kind welcome and the unexpected pleasure of staying at the renowned mansion of the Oracles.'' He motioned to his wife who was moving to stand beside him, '' May I introduce to you my lovely wife, Sylva?'' Lord Regent Finor gave a thing smile as he laid his eyes on the woman standing beside his esteemed guest, ''Yes you did mention you were bringing her along with you when you accepted our generous offer to speak at the opening of the new Imperial Tenebraen Conference Center.'' He gave the barest of nods before dismissing the woman out of his mind to concentrate on his guest. ''Please allow me to show you around. Do not worry for your car and belongings the staff will see to it.'' Without waiting for a reply, the lord turned around and started walking forcing Lance and Sylva to quickly catch up to him.

The man's behavior was exactly what Cor had warned them about when the Marshall had learnt of Lance's acceptance to the job offer. The Lord Regent Finor had made a name for himself in the short time since the Niflheim invasion as a man who thought of females as nothing more than a nuisance and who used his new found position to entertain intellectuals from all over Eos as a way to show off his own intellect and power. The monologue the man kept up as he brought Lance and Sylva through the old halls of the mansion only furthered the growing disgust Sylva kept carefully hidden away under a polite face of interest as their host went about describing the history of Tenebrae as though he had witnessed it personally and even, at times, as though he had played a part in the events he described.

The Argentum's were quite happy when their host finally stopped in front of a door and explained, ''These are your quarters, the staff have already brought your belongings here. Please settle in and let the staff should you require anything and they will see to it, within reason of course. I will send something to bring you to dine with me tonight.'' Lance gave the man another short bow, ''You have our thanks for your thoughtfulness and hospitality.'' The Lord Regent gave a small nod with a self-satisfied grin plastered on his face. As he turned to walk away, Sylva spoke up, ''My apologies if I am speaking out of turn but I was wondering if we would be dining with the Lady Oracle and her brother?'' Finor didn't even turn around to answer the question, ''I'm afraid that only Lady Lunafreya will be attending tonight. '' He left before Sylva could ask anything else.

They waited into they were safely inside their assigned rooms before allowing their guard to slip a bit. ''That was quite the odd wording.'' Muttered Sylva, moving to lean on the large bed in the middle of the lavish room. Lance nodded, ''Yes though his behavior towards you is absolutely disgusting.'' The man was looking around the room, the white and silver colors of the Tenebrae lineage surrounding them. A walk in closet had its door open with their unpacked bags left on the ground while another door lead to a large luxurious bathroom with a Jacuzzi bathtub and spacious shower alongside a marble sink counter with high end products waiting to be used by the couple. ''Let's get ready shall we?'' Asked Sylva, getting up and moving to where her jewelry box had been set by one of the staff. She opened the small box and quickly found the present an old techno savvy friend had given her a few years ago.

The small necklace was made of silver with a delicate butterfly pendant with a ruby crystal as the CenterPoint. She pressed a finger to the ruby until it vibrated once. Lance was quick to move to her side, taking the necklace when it was offered to him and putting it around his wife's neck. With that done, Sylva moved around the rooms, carefully through it with deliberate intent. She smiled as she finished going through their room, taking off the necklace and replacing it in the box before declaring to her husband, ''All clear! There isn't any bugs or cameras in here. At least that wretch cares about allowing his guests their privacy.'' Lance smiled, ''Good, that's one less thing to worry about.'' Sylva hummed in agreement, taking a quick look at the clock before shooing her husband out of the bathroom. '' Indeed but we still need to play our part until night falls so unless you're planning on joining me in the shower, off you go!'' Lance laughed, letting her push him into the bedroom and after stealing a kiss simply said, '' I still have some work to do on my speech so I'll pass for now.''

Almost two hours passed before a knock on the door announced the time for the diner with their host, Sylva and Lance sharing a glance before Lance opened the door to show a maid waiting patiently in front of the door. ''Mr and Mrs Argentum, Lord Regent invites you to dine with him. If you are ready please follow me.'' Lance nodded, '' Of course, lead the way miss…'' He gave the maid a genuine smile, watching as the maid looked surprised, averting her gaze with a small blush, ''There is no need for a distinguished guest such as yourself to know my name.'' Lance gave a small chuckle, taking one of the maid hand and giving it a chaste kiss, '' Non sense miss, I enjoy talking with everyone including such a hard working lady as yourself.'' Sylva hide her smirk under a polite smile and pushed just a bit more, '' I agree, surely you have a name to match your dedication to your work.'' The maid blushed even more, '' My name is Yule.'' Lance gave the hand he was holding another chaste kiss, '' A wonderful name indeed. My many thanks for showing us to our host Miss Yule.''

The maid gave a bow, her cheeks still slightly red as she turned and showed the couple to the dining room where Finor and a young teenaged girl were already seated. As the couple walked through the doors, the Lord Regent got up from his seat at the head of the table with a wide smile toward Lance, ''Ah, and here is our guest, I hope the room was to your satisfaction?'' Lance smiled politely as he was gently guided to sit at the right of the man while Sylva was escorted to sit beside the young lady who had yet to lift her eyes from her hands. '' The room is wonderful and more then we could have asked, you have our thanks once more for the gracious accommodation.'' Finor simply waved away the compliment and sat back down, motioning with his hand to the butlers who quickly started serving the food before diving into a conversation with his guest about some of Lance's previous conferences.

Sylva sat down beside the young girl who sat much too still and quiet for the nurse to feel comfortable. She waited until the butler moved away to start bringing the food before quietly saying, ''There are a lot of people worried about you and your brother, my son among them.'' The girl jerked her head up to stare at Sylva for a single moment before her eyes turned to watch the Niflheim man talking with Lance, body tensing up before relaxing a bit when Finor didn't even glance at them. Sylva had to really fight not to frown at the reaction, the nurse looking more closely at the child and noting all the things that simply screamed that something was wrong. There were fading bruises barely visible at the edge of her sleeves, heavy looking bracelets that look uncomfortable and whose edges left red marks in her wrists. The darkened circles under the young girl's eyes and the thin arms added to the picture of a scared and likely abused young lady.

There was still strength and determination in her eyes, Sylva noted with a sigh of relief as the nurse motioned to her husband keeping the Lord of the manor occupied with conversation, '' Don't worry about them, my husband is very good at keeping others focused on him when he wants them too. You are Pryna's mistress correct?'' The lady Oracle, Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, turned back to look at the lady who was talking to her in such a casual way. With one last glance to verify that Finor was not paying any attention to her, Luna nodded and asked, ''Are you Prompto's mother?'' Sylva smiled, reaching into her purse and taking out her phone, she gave her own glance at the men talking before opening the photo gallery on her phone and showing a the picture of Prompto napping with Noctis on the sofa from a few months ago. Luna's reaction was instantaneous, her body relaxing as she looked at the two boys sleeping together peacefully.

Sylva smiled, she handed the phone over to the princess as the butlers moved around to serve them all food. She quickly noticed that all of the butlers' shooting worried looks at their princess but very few of them actually gave her food from their trays. Her own plate full, Sylva started transferring some of it into Luna's almost empty one since it would simply go to waste and at 13, Luna was soon to start growing and needed the food. She smiled at the murmured thank you and continued her conversation with the girl once the butlers were out of ear shot. ''Are you injured?'' Luna shook her head slightly, slowly starting to eat while casting glances at the men. Sylva hummed, ''Your brother?'' Luna tensed up, her head bowing to look back to her lap, a slight trembling shiver passing over her body, ''I don't know, they won't let us see each other… not since… not since the Lord Regent arrived.''

Sylva took a bite of her own food, using it to hide the frown that wanted to make itself known. She continued to eat, slowly encouraging the young lady beside her to eat. ''This is only a guess but they are threatening your brother to keep you quiet, aren't they?'' Luna tensed up, given Sylva the answer by that simple movement. She offered the girl a smile, '' The weather is supposed to be rather warm tonight, you might want to keep a window open to let some fresh air in.'' With that, Sylva ignored the confused look the oracle shot her and moved the conversation to more mundane things, mostly centering about the knowledge the Oracles learnt about healing and medicine in general. The dinner was delicious despite the fact that Sylva's worries about the Nox Fleuret siblings made the food taste more like ash and as soon as Finor suggested that the ladies left the men to talk alone, Sylva allowed herself to be escorted back to her room after once last reassuring smile towards her dining partner.

Lance glanced at his departing wife, using the smile that he couldn't prevent from emerging to convince the obnoxious, self-serving Lord Regent that he was quite interested in their current subject. While their initial plan had been forced to change with the rather forceful invitation to reside in the mansion, Lance and Sylva had been able to adjust to it rather quickly and Lance was determine to give Sylva all the time she needed to have her fun. Sylva followed the maid, Yule back to her room, making small talk and learning that the staff had corridors for their exclusive use throughout the mansion since Lord Finor thought servants moving around to be distasteful and preferred not to see any of them unless absolutely necessary.

The nurse stopped in front of her room, ''Miss Yule, forgive me for being forward but what caused those bruises on your arm?'' Yule eyes widen in shock, her right hand rising to cover the bruises showing through the lace of her sleeves, '' It's nothing much, Lord Regent Finor decided I was moving out of his way too slowly. They hardly bother me.'' Sylva tutted, gently drawing the young lady into her room and grabbing her ever present medical kit as she looked for a cream made especially to treat bruises. She grabbed it, taking a bit of it out and transferring it into another container before giving the smaller one to Yule. ''Here you go. Put this on the bruises before going to bed tonight and again tomorrow morning, that should be enough to make them fade completely. If you run out of it for any reason while I'm here let me know and I'll give you some more.'' The maid looked between Sylva and the medicine in shock, a trembling hand grabbing the container before she gave a deep bow, '' Thank you! Please if you ever need help let me know and I'll do my best!'' Sylva smiled and escorted the now beaming maid out of the room, she had work to do.

First thing to do was take another shower, this time using scent free soap. She carefully arranged her hair to look a bit coarse before adding a few touches of make up to change the more visible features of her face such as her cheek bones and adding a beauty spot beside her lip. A quick look through their clothes allowed Sylva to find the various articles that together formed a passable maid uniform such as the ones used by the female staff here. Her close examination of Yule's outfit while they walked back to the rooms had been enough to allow Sylva to add a few details using a sewing kit. By the time she was done sewing the last things together, Lance could be heard approaching while talking loudly with the Lord Regent. ''Thank you for escorting me back Lord Finor. It has been a wonderful evening but I am expected early tomorrow to go through the schedule for the opening ceremony and address.'' ''Of course, please do not worry. My staff will have everything ready for you in the morning. Shall I send one to wake you up at around 6 in the morning?''

Sylva hide the fake maid outfit out of sight before going to open the door, '' 6 sounds perfect Lord Regent.'' She declared in her husband's stead. She felt the man stare are her in annoyance, ignoring it to give a kiss to Lance who chuckled and leaned into it. '' Yes 6 is perfect. Have a pleasant evening Lord Regent.'' Lance and Sylva both bowed and patiently waited for the man to leave before retreating to the other side of the door. ''Well?'' Sylva asked. Lance sighed sitting wearily on the bed as he watched his wife take out the maid outfit and quickly change into it. ''I was able to convince him to talk about the architecture of the place. He even showed me some of the initial plans for the place that still existed in their library.''

Lance carefully slid out some papers from his sleeve with a smile, flattening them on the bed for Sylva to see. ''He also bragged about having strict orders for the staff and guards that the Oracle is not to be disturbed until morning once she has been sent to her room. The room is over here. '' Lance tapped a room in the upper floors. '' You shouldn't have too much trouble reaching it if you go through the hall and then climb out from here.'' He tapped another room on the floor below. Sylva nodded, her eyes following the corridors she had to take to reach her goal. '' What about the boy?'' she asked. '' On the opposite side of the place if I understood what Finor was implying correctly.'' Sylva looked up as Lance explained, ''When I asked him about Ravus Nox Fleuret, Finor said that he was still learning proper manners befitting a prince of conquered territory and that until he did so, Ravus would be get away from his sister as to prevent him from being a bad influence on her.''

Sylva sighed, ''Luna basically confirmed that they are threatening Ravus to get her cooperation. Will you be ok to get to the boy while I go get the girl?'' Lance smiled, leaning his forehead on Sylva, ''Dont worry about me. This isn't my first time remember?'' Sylva returned the smile. ''All right then, we should get started. The Oracle's disappearance wont be noticed until morning if Finor was telling the truth but I doubt they wont notice Ravus disappearing if he is being kept under watch.'' Lance smirked, '' We'll find out soon enough. I'll meet you back here with him as soon as I can. Be safe.'' Sylva gave her husband a kiss for good luck before slipping out of the rooms and into the empty corridor, carrying with her a few surprises to place around the mansion while she had the chance.

Lance waited for a few more minutes after Sylva left before starting to move himself. He didn't bother with hidden or disguising himself, having gotten the permission from his supposed fan to walk around the mansion at will except for a specific garden at the back of the mansion. As much as he was confident that Ravus was being held somewhere in that supposed garden, Lance needed to start with a few preparations first. He spent the first half hour simply walking around, ignoring the MT's stationed throughout the halls keeping a vigil for intruders. After that he approached two guards who had their arms full of drinks and food, '' Need a hand?'' He offered.

The guards looked at each other and then at Lord Finor's guest who had simply strolled up to them and offered to help them, '' Sir?'' Lance chuckled, '' No need for that, please call me Lance. I was just wondering if you needed some help with carrying those?'' Lance motioned to the objects in their arms once more. The guards still looked hesitant and so Lance went ahead and grabbed a few things, some of the heavier things without trouble. ''that's very kind of you Si.. Lance.'' The younger of the guards said not saying Sir when Lance lifted an eyebrow at the man. Lance chuckled, '' Don't worry about it. I couldn't sleep and it better not to disturb my wife when she is resting. Now where too?'' It didn't take long for both men to start being comfortable around Lance who laughed and joked with them as though he had always known them. The guards were heading to the monitor room as they had the night shift and Lance found himself being invited to play some card games for as long as he wanted.

'' That's quite the invitation, are you sure? I wouldn't want you guys to get into trouble if someone learns I was in there.'' Asked Lance. The older guard, Colin, just shrugged, '' Who's going to tell him? The Lord would rather we don't even look at him. Posh noble bastard.'' Lance held the door open as the other two greeted their coworkers before all five men, 4 guards and Lance, settled at a table to play some poker. Lance took care to lose more often then he won, as he listened to the men talk about how boring their jobs were and how useless it was when the MT's were able to do the same thing without them standing around being bored. With a few probing questions, Lance found the last information he needed. Ravus was guarded by 2 MT's at all times while the key to his room, more like cell if the guards laughing description was anything to go by, was held by the Lord Regent himself. There was also a dedicated feed, a guard motioned boringly at one of the monitors, and some electric alarms set to sound if someone were to enter the prisoner's room without the proper authorization.

Lance guided the discussion away from Ravus and played one last game of poker, losing everything he had and using that lost as an excuse to leave without arousing suspicion. Before he left, he offered to throw away the empty bottles of beer and snacks that had been finished by now. Lance used that to approach the monitor that showed Ravus' room door with the 2 flanking MTs, casting a look at the guards concentrating on the new game of poker, he quickly slid a thin stick into one of the open ports and watched as the image blinked on and off once. One security mesure down, a few more to go before he could go get the Tenebraen Prince. Lance bid the men farewell and left the control room with no one the wiser for his sabotage and wondered back towards the area he remembered as the forbidden garden.

Lance hummed to himself as he walked, keeping an eye out for anyone who might cause trouble but the more he approached the garden, the quieter the area became. The garden was deadly quiet, with no birds or night time sounds being heard within its walled off area. Lance was unsettled by the quiet, used to the noisy night of Insomnia even the almost constant sounds that existed with the Citadel. It wasn't hard to find the place where Ravus was being held, it wasn't a room at all but rather what appeared to be a garden shed reinforced with concrete and iron bars. The two MTs were silently standing guard on either side of the door, at odd intervals moving to look around them before settling back to their empty forward stare. Lance kept watch for a little while, trying to see if there was a pattern to the MT's movements but they seemed to be random. With a sight, Lance stepped back into the corridors and walked away from the garden. He had an idea on how to get past the Mt's and the other security measures but he needed a distraction and for that he needed Sylva's help.

Sylva slipped through the door and into the empty corridor without trouble, easily finding the corridors Yule had mentioned as they were marked by a red circle at the bottom of the walls. She quickly found and borrowed a cleaning bucket, hiding her surprises within them as she made her way to her various targets. The first place she visited was the kitchen, mostly empty at this late hour, only a single cook and maid still up in case their master decided he wanted a late night snack or drink. She smiled at them and returned their greeting while heading to the cellar where Finor had mentioned they kept the man's vast collection of wines and beers for special occasions. She took out some of the fake jewelry, twisting the glass parts off in order to prime the fuses for a remote detonation, checking to verify the trigger could clearly receive the signal if needed. Satisfied with the strength of the signal, she put the miniature bombs throughout the cellar while pretending to clean some of the older bottles. On a whim, she grabbed some of the smaller ones to bring back with her. On her way out she spotted an open cabinet with several keys in it, some numbered and some named. After a few moments of reading through them, she quickly borrowed the extra key to their room, not wanting to take any chances that someone who decides to enter uninvited using it.

She left as soon as she was done, heading towards Finor's office to start her revenge against the Niflheim empire who had sent the Intruders that had caused so much pain to her son. It didn't take long to find the office nor to gain entrance to it when she quietly pried the door off its joints. Slipping in and repositioning the door took longer than finding what she needed. With a pleased smirk, she carefully opened the various letters the Lord Regent had finished writing and with practiced ease; Sylva carefully changed some of the text to fit her needs. She found a list of names with what appeared to be numbers indicating some kind of ongoing bet. A second paper, folder and tucked away between two files answered what is was. The Lord Regent, chosen personally by the Emperor as he so gleefully bragged about, was running a black market operation on the Oracle's healing abilities and on many priceless Tenebraen artifacts.

Sylva took a picture of the papers and sent them to a reporter she knew that would ensure the news would make the front page of all the Niflheim's journals and news reports. Giggling quietly, she replaced everything the way it had been when she first entered the room and left after stealing a few extra envelops and pre-signed blank papers. The man truly was a fool, left with such an important job and he cut corners at every opportunity for his own gain. At least it would make her revenge that much more satisfying. She unlocked the door and after making sure it would lock once closed, left the office to finally go see the young princess. Sylva moved with determination, nodding to the guards but otherwise acting as though she had every right to be there until she arrived at the room right below the Oracle's.

She entered the room, looking around to verify the single bed room was empty before entering and locking the door behind her. It was apparently used for staff hired for special events but it was currently empty which was perfect for her intentions. Leaving the bucket and its stolen content out of sight of the door, Sylva opened the window as wide as it would go. She leaned outside to look around and found why Lance had suggested she come here to reach Lunafreya. On the wall was a series of broken bricks, burn marks still visible, it didn't take much to guess it was unrepaired damage from the invasion. It made perfect handholds for the sprightly nurse to use and climb to the open window of the room above her.

Lunafreya was awake and snuggling with Pryna and Umbra when they both looked towards the open window. Luna followed their gaze and had to bite back a scream as a maid slipped through the window quietly. It took a few second for Luna to recognize who it was with the slight light from outside. ''Mrs Argentum? How?'' She looked in stunned disbelief as the woman who had been so kind to her during their brief meeting walked up and sat down beside her when Umbra moved to make space for her. ''The result of a misspent youth I'm afraid.'' Sylva replied as she offered her hands to the surprisingly silent dogs to smell. They both did before licking the hand and jumping off the bed. Luna relaxed, both messengers were at ease with the woman and it allowed Luna to do the same.

Sylva smiled at the young girl, only a few years older than her own child, '' I suggest you pack a bag with what you cant leave behind so we can get going.'' Luna shook her head, '' I cant! If I leave Ravus will…'' Sylva put a hand on Luna's shoulder, ''My husband is taking care of your brother so don't worry. You will both be reunited before dawn.'' Luna looked conflicted, she didn't want to cause trouble and if Sylva's husband couldn't get Ravus out? What would happen to her brother. A soft nudge had her looking down to see Umbra with a bag in her mouth while Pryna was waiting patiently beside the open window. Sylva laughed, '' I think they are saying its time to go.'' Luna nodded, taking a few deep breathes to calm herself, putting away the fear she felt into a small corner until she could safely let it out before moving. She grabbed the bag from Umbra and turned to start packing wordlessly.

Sylva nodded and then turned to look at the pups. ''Better start with you two.'' She said towards the dogs. She undid the apron, quickly tying it together to form a sling and quickly putting Pryna who was waiting patiently by the window. Getting down was a bit harder than climbing but still not enough to worry Sylva. She dropped the beige pup carefully on the floor before climbing back up to repeat the same thing with the other dog. By the time she had climbed back for the third time, Luna was finishing her bag, carefully tucking a note book into it before zipping it up. ''Ready?'' Asked Sylva, waiting as Luna looked around before the young girl nodded and handed the bag to the older woman. Sylva had to move more slowly now, helping the princess to climb down from her room using the broken bricks as holds, thankfully Luna wasn't afraid of heights and was able to concentrate on where to put her hands and feet to safely descend the few feet's separating her from the lower level.

From there, it was ease from Sylva to give Luna a quick make over using what was already there in the room. The bedsheet was white and easily to tear and fashion into a scarf and the blackout curtains made for a passable makeshift skirt when tied around the thin girl's waist. The last touch was picking up a garbage can, putting Luna's bag and her two companions in there before letting Luna carry the cleaning bucket while Sylva lifted the can without trouble. Luna was very tense the first few times that they passed people, either staff or guards but when she realized they saw the general look of the uniform and little else, she was able to relax and quickly copied Sylva's determined way of walking. The walk to their guest room was stressfull for both ladies and pushing the door open after making sure no one was around to see it had them both release a sigh of relief. Sylva letting the can drop quietly while Luna did the same with the bucket.

''I'll take care of those, you go on and make yourself at home.'' Sylva said, quickly taking the girl's things and dogs out of the can before emptying the bucket of the stolen items. Just as she was about to return outside to return the borrowed stuff, Lance walked in alone. Luna shot up looking frightened as she saw Sylva's husband return without her brother. Lance glanced at the princess before asking Sylva, ''I need a distraction can you do it?'' Sylva frowned, '' When and where?'' Lanced moved passed his wife and grabbed at one of their travel bags. The bottom was solid but held a hidden compartment that held what Lance needed to his plan. He replied as he straightened, '' As soon as you can and close to the back garden.''

Luna spoke up, voice filled with barely contained panic, '' Where is Ravus? Whats going on?'' Lance turned to look at the young girl, offering a calm smile before answering, '' Your brother is being held in a converted shed in the back garden. He is guarded by two of the MT's so I need a distraction to get their attention while I sneak up to them. Sylva is rather good at those.'' He motioned to the woman in question before continuing, '' I know you are worried but please don't be. Your brother will be here with you soon and as long as we are around you both be safe.'' Luna looked down, her nails digging into the palms of her hands as she hesitated over what to do once more. Sylva and Lance didn't wait for her to do anything reckless, already heading back out with Sylva telling the girl, '' Stay in the room and don't open the door to anyone. We have the only keys for it.''

The couple locked the door behind them, Sylva carrying the bucket and garbage can with her as whispered her plan to her husband. ''I put some of my toys in the wine cellar Finor was bragging about, is it close enough to the gardens for your plan?'' Lance took back out the floor plans he had borrowed from the library and checked, it was. The kitchen had a connecting door straight to the back garden, most likely there for when the garden was used to grow fruits or vegetables. ''That will do perfectly though its quite the waste of wine.'' Sighed Lance mournfully. Sylva laughed quietly, ''I stole a few of them when I put the bombs initially.'' She chuckled at the look of utmost love she received, '' You are such a wonderful lady.'' He murmured before they went their separate ways. Lance headed back to the garden, carefully making his way out of sight of the MTS and he waited.

Sylva grinned as she moved to the kitchen, the two staff members were still there and Sylva wanted to keep any injuries to a minimum where possible and so she approached them and said, '' Sorry to bother you but I saw that honored guest of Lord Regent Finor looking lost on my way here. I don't know where his quarters are maybe you can both help him more than me?'' The cook swore, '' Where did you say he was?'' Sylva pointed away from wine cellars and with a shared glance both staff left the kitchen to go look for the supposed wandering guest. With one last check to see if everyone was gone, she left the bucket, can and threw part of the uniform by the cellar door before she snuck in to change the charges to a 1 minute countdown. She ran off as soon as she set the first charge since it would trigger the others quickly, and made her way back to their rooms. She quickly opened the window and waited with Luna for Lance and Ravus.

Lance heard the blast more then he felt it, the rush of hot air passed by him roughly, hot and dry but tinted with the smell of wine. As he had planned, both MTs quickly turned to approach the source of the warmth, their sensors collecting all the information they could get to deal with the situation efficiently. Lance took advantage of their focus to run up to them, uncorking the small bottle and drizzling both Magitek with it. The effect was almost instantaneous as the pretrial scourge antidote quickly destroyed the daemon that allowed the machine to move so efficiently. Sylva had insisted on bringing 2 vials of it to see if she could increase the current formula using the healing waters of Tenebrae but this was a better use for one of the vials.

With both MTs out of commission, Lance quickly scavenged some of the wires in order to deal with the alarm that would sound if he opened the door. It didn't take much time to find the cables for the alarm and Lance used the scavenged wires to create a parallel circuit that would trick the alarm system into thinking the door was still closed. Behind him, the first shouts of fire could be heard but Lance was confident that no one would come here considering the fact that the cameras would show nothing wrong on the monitors. He grinned as he quickly picked the lock and quietly pushed the door open.

His grin dropped and he swore as he got his first glimpse of Lunafreya's brother in the crumbled mess lying shivering on the bare ground. Lance took two steps towards the boy before Ravus noticed his approached, the young man forcing himself to look at the newest threat with anger and disgust, determined not to show any weakness despite the injured state he found himself. Lance stopped moving raising both hands in a show of peace, ''Prince Ravus?'' The injured boy stayed silent, body coiled unto itself in an attempt to protect himself from further injuries. '' My name is Lance Argentum, I am here to help you escape. Your sister is already safe with my wife. Will you allow me to move closer?'' Lanced whispered, kneeling down to further diminish the threat to the teenager.

Ravus' eyes widen in shock as the strange man told him that Luna was with his wife, he didn't know if it was real and it didn't really matter, '' If you hurt her!'' He tried to scream only to dissolve into a series of harsh cough instead. Lance stayed where he was despite his desire to try and help the poor boy, instead dropping his hands and keeping a lookout for anyone approaching while the boy tried to catch his breath. It was because of that watchful state that Lance spotted the beige streak bouncing towards the shed. Pryna quickly darted past Lance until she could put her cold nose on Ravus' face and with a few whines got him to pay attention to her. '' Pryna?'' Ravus murmured as he reached out to hold onto his sister's dog.

Pryna gave a soft bark, licking Ravus once then twice before going to sit beside Lance. Ravus frowned, what was the messenger dog trying to tell him? Was she saying to trust the man and his claims? Lance waiting, not daring to move as Pryna seemed to talk with Ravus from where she sat beside him. After a few minutes, pierced only by the shouts of the staff and guards fighting the fire spreading through the kitchen, Ravus slowly pushed himself up and with a hateful glared told the stranger, '' I'll follow you but if you have lied about my sister being with you it will be the last thing you do.'' The voice was raw and filled with pain and Lance nodded quickly to prevent the teenager from straining himself further. '' This way then. Do you need help?'' Lance asked but Ravus shook his head, stubbornly pushing himself to walk past Lance and through the door of his prison.

Lance keep close to the staggering boy, ready to move if it looked like Ravus was going to collapse. The dark night prevented Lance from seeing just how injured the boy was but what he could see told enough. Bare feet and ripped clothes showed glimpses of thin legs and arms, too thin for Lance's liking while Ravus kept a hand tight around the crook of his right elbow, trying to limit the limbs movement. Pryna walked right by Ravus' feet, rubbing against his legs periodically as the dog lead the way carefully towards the now open window of their rooms. Luna waved as soon as she saw her brother staggering nearer, only just retaining a shout of joy while Sylva had taken one look at the boy and moved away from the window to start preparing what she would need to treat any and all injuries the lanky teenager undoubtedly had. Ravus looked up to see Lunafreya waving at him from a window on the second floor and the sudden relief he felt at seeing her unharmed allowed the pain and exhaustion to take over and Ravus collapse. Lance swore as he caught the boy as he dropped like a stone and quickly dragged him into his arms.

''Get Sylva, she'll need to pull him up since I cant climb with him on my shoulders safely.'' He told Lunafreya. Luna nodded and left the window to find Sylva in the bathroom carefully laying some towels on the floor. '' Your husband need your help. Ravus collapse! Please help him!'' She begged. Sylva looked up and nodded, '' Alright but I need you to start getting things ready for your brother.'' She pointed at her medical bag, '' Take everything that's in there and put it on the counter, the instruments go here, '' She tapped one of the towels,'' and the rest behind them.'' She waited until Luna nodded before she left the room and headed for the window. Lance had Ravus in his arms, thankfully the boy was light enough that Lance could easily lift him high enough for Sylva to grasp him under the shoulders and pull him through the window and unto the floor. In the light of the room, Ravus' injuries and general state were horrible and Sylva almost growled in anger and horror.

She didn't wait for Lance to climb before starting to check the prince's injuries, quickly making a mental list of everything she saw and knowing that it was only part of the whole. His right elbow was dislocated and his forearm showed signs of having been broken at least twice but not allowed to heal properly. His left arm was peppered with bruises and hand marks and as she leaned closer she could see that his wrists had been rubbed raw by shackles of some kind. His hands were cut and several of his nails were missing on both hands. His face was pale and too thin for a boy that should be 17 or so. There were bruises all over the left side and a few finger marks along his jaw and throat. His clothes had once been white but were now bloodied and dirty, the rips showing more bruises underneath his clothes and his legs were in no better condition. As Sylva slowly lifted his feet she saw that the soles of them had been thoroughly whipped and there were strips of skin hanging off with blood dripping from the reopened injuries.

Lance had by now climbed back to the room, put down Pryna and closed the window as a nod from Sylva told him to pick the too light boy up and followed her to the bathroom. Luna gasped in horror as she saw the state her brother was in, her eyes filling with tears as she reached out to touch him with trembling hands. Sylva caught her before she could and she whispered to the girl, '' I'm a nurse so trust me to do my job. I need you to keep an eye out and help me if I need it. Can you do that?'' Luna nodded, a few tears making its way down her face as her lips trembled. Lance gently put the boy into the tub where Sylva could easily reach and clean him as she needed. Between both of them, they quickly striped Ravus of his clothes and Sylva set about using a towel to clean off all the blood and grime that stuck to his injuries. As she did so she added a few more injuries to her mental list: at least 3 fractured ribs and one broken; a blooming bruise across his stomach which made the nurse in her worry about the possibility of internal bleeding and disgustingly fresh cuts across his inner thighs.

As Sylva and Luna worked to start treating all the injuries, Lance moved back to the bedroom and slipped off his bloodied clothes, stuffing them into one of the bags before putting some clean clothes on while keeping a close eye on the situation emerging from the kitchen. The shouts and movements were getting closer and Lance hoped that they would at least have enough time to take care of Ravus' injuries before they had to hide the two children from their host. Lance stood protectively by the door for a few moments before deciding to leave the room. He made his way to find the source of the shouting, finding the staff working hard to fight the ever growing flames. He saw Finor in his night dress, shouting orders left and right as the fire spread from the wine cellar to the kitchen oils and beyond. ''Whats going on?'' asked Lance as he joked closer.

Finor glanced at the man, ''Dear Argentum, I'm afraid that a fire has started in our kitchen. Please don't worry about it and return to your room. '' said the Lord. Lance frowned and said, '' Are you sure its safe? Perhaps it would best if we leave the mansion and stay at a hotel for the night.'' Finor was about to answer when another explosion happened, the blast pushing them a few steps back and Lance even had to cover his face with his arms. Finor stared in horror at the sight while Lance made his decision, '' I believe I will be leaving here with my wife. I wish you good luck in controlling the blaze before it damages anything important or take any lives. I will see you at the conference this week.'' Finor could only nod dumbly as his eyes were glued on the flames.

Lance keep his smile under control as he ran back to their room, '' Sylva, Miss Lunafreya!'' He shouted as he entered. Luna looked pale as she poked her head out of the bathroom, '' ?'' Lance smiled walking up to her and looking over her form to watch his wife at work, apparently stitching some of Ravus' injuries. '' The fire is growing, I doubt it'll spread too far considering its burning on oil and alcohol in a stone mansion but even so its enough that I convinced Finor to let us go to our hotel as we originally planned.'' Lance explained with a smirk.

Sylva shot him a smile, '' Perfect I'm almost done here. If Lunafreya is able, she could start throing everything in our bags so we can leave quickly.'' She asked the last part to the girl in question who nodded firmly as she answered, '' I'll do it.'' Lance gave Luna a smile and helped her get all their bags out and start putting things away. He did put aside a set of clothing for Ravus and one of Sylva's longer shirts for Luna. When their bags were done, Lance left Luna to finish helping Sylva and started moving their bags to their car, parked in the underground garage. Two trips was enough to get everything into the car and when he returned to help Sylva, he found them all ready to go. ''How shall we do this?'' Asked Lance, motioning to the children. Sylva was helping Luna into the shirt Lance had left out for her, when the young girl proposed, '' The cameras in the Parking Garage don't work. If your car is there we can just walk over to it.'' She noticed Sylva and Lance looking at her startled and blushed, muttering an explanation, '' I heard some of the guards complaining about it because Finor didn't want to pay to have it fixed…'' Lance laughed, reaching out to pat Luna's head, forgetting for a moment she might be used to it.

Sylva smiled, getting up and clapping her hands together, '' Then it's a plan. Lance can carry Ravus and we'll make sure the way is clear.'' Lance nodded, moving over and gently picking up the unconscious boy, holding him protectively to his chest and the four plus 2 dogs quickly made their way out of the Nox Fleuret Manor. Luna was tense and kept looking around with tired and sad eyes making Sylva reach out to lay a hand on her shoulder in silent support. Luna gave a watery smile to the woman and kept on going. It didn't take long for them to reach the elevator going to the garage and everyone released a sigh of relief as they were able to descend without seeing anyone. A silent conversation passed between Lance and Sylva before they both turned to look at Luna. ''We need to pass through the gate and its guards.'' Luna paled having forgotten about them. Sylva hurried to reassure the girl, ''Don't worry, there are some advantages of owning an old car.'' She chuckled before reaching unto the back seat and pulling the whole seat up. The back seat was empty in the middle allowing for extra baggage space or in this case a safe place to hide 2 children. It would be a bit of a tight fit and Sylva was a bit worried about Ravus being in such a situation but they didn't have the time to come up with something else.

Luna nodded, understanding the situation easily and slipping wordlessly into the empty space. Lance waited until she was comfortable before slipping Ravus beside her. Sylva took out one of the blanket she often kept in the car and wrapped it over the two children; then almost as an afterthought, Sylva took out her cell phone and handed it to Luna, ''Do you know how to use this?'' Luna nodded, Noctis had showed her how when he had been here before the invasion. Sylva smiled, ''Good use it if you need too. Lance has his phone and his number is under his name.'' Luna nodded again, quickly checking she remembered correctly before moving slightly to face Ravus and lay a hand on the side of his face. Sylva put the seat back down and made sure everything looked ok before joining her husband in the front. Lance wasted no time to get the car started and getting out of the Manor, the fire only slightly visible from the front of the property.

Thankfully, the guards took a single look at them, gave a once over of the mostly empty car and waved them through the gates. Sylva and Lance sharing a look and sigh of relief once they were further away from the burning Manor. Lance stopped at an empty corner, in order to move the children from under to on the back seat. Ravus giving a groan of pain and starting to panic until Luna took one of his hands and whispered to her brother which allowed him to relax back into a peaceful sleep. The hotel Lance had initially booked was owned by an old school friend and a single call ensured them a room with a private elevator from the indoor garage to their suite. All of it at a steep discount in return for Lance bringing the owner's daughter to meet some of the renown researchers that would be attending the conference starting in two days.

As Lance went to the front desk to grab their keys and speak quickly with the owner, Sylva took the time to check on Ravus, relieved to find that none of his injuries had reopened during their hurried departure. Luna was leaning heavily against the bench, refusing to let her brother's hand go as she dozed fitfully. Sylva smiled, happy that the sudden change of plans had ended up with the Nox Fleuret being safely with them rather than still imprisoned by the Niflheim Empire's men. Lance returned just as quietly as he left, taking the time to watch the children sleep and sharing a relieved smile with his wife before Sylva reached to wake Luna up. ''We have to move to our room and then you can sleep as much as you want.'' Luna woke with a start, her head moving quickly from side to side as she found herself somewhere new. Sylva and Lance waited patiently for her breath to settle and her mind to catch up on the last few hours before they started moving. Lance picked Ravus up, being carefully that Luna could still hold unto her brother while Sylva picked up some of the bags, the ones with her medical equipment and their shared basic necessities. The rest could wait until morning. The rise to their room was quiet, Luna returning to lean heavily on Lance and she crawled beside Ravus as soon as Lance put the boy down on a bed. Within minutes, the children were knocked out snuggling with each other protectively. Lance gave his wife a quick kiss before they also got into bed and fell asleep just as quickly. The next 9 days would prove interesting to say the least.


	2. Chapter 2

Lance woke up the next morning a little before six feeling slightly confused. As he turned towards the warm and familiar body beside him, his half opened eyes feel on the children carefully tucked in the other bed of their room and Lance remembered the evening's events with a worried rush of anger. Taking a few seconds to look at his sleeping wife, Lance slipped silently out of the large bed and made his way to check on their charges.

Sometime during the night, Ravus had moved until he curled protectively around his younger sister. Lunafreya tucked securedly against the older boy's chest, a hand holding tightly unto the borrowed shirt and sleeping peacefully. Ravus on the other hand was breathing harshly and his face was twisted in discomfort. Lance carefully pressed his hand on the teenager's forehead and hissed as he felt the abnormal heat that indicated a fever.

Lance turned back and quickly woke Sylva up, "Sylva! Ravus started a fever overnight." The words quickly pierced through the veil of sleep and Sylva shot up, pushing aside the blankets to get out of bed quickly. She quickly repeated the same check as her husband a moment before and the heat she could feel coming off Ravus was enough to seriously worry the nurse.

With a muttered apology, Sylva looked at Lunafreya, "Lunafreya I need you to wake up." The girl jerked upright at the sound of Sylva's voice with a muffled scream, her eyes darted around in fear. Sylva and Lance both moved back to give her space. Umbra and Pryna had woken up from their sleeping place on the foot of the bed and quickly jumped up to help calm their mistress.

"It's ok Luna, you're safe." Calmly told Lance from where he was, "We are at the hotel in their private suite. You and your brother escaped from the Niflheim's control with us yesterday evening. Do you remember?" The adults waited as the young girl took shuttering breaths and seemed to calm down thanks to the help from both pups and the presence of her brother beside her. Lunafreya frowned as she spotted the same painful expression Ravus had and the worried sister reached to touch him. "Ravus?" She asked carefully, taking a sharp breath in when she felt the heat coming off him.

The nurse was right beside her feverish patient as Luna seemed to have calmed down enough to accept her presence. "He seems to have started a fever overnight. I'm sorry Luna but I need you to move away a bit so I can check his injuries for any infections." Asked Sylva. Luna nodded, moving out of the way to stand beside Lance. Sylva offered the girl a gentle and hopefully comforting smile before concentration on the injured Ravus. First thing to do was strip off the blankets and check through all of the boy's injuries.

Sylva gently repositioned Ravus unto his back carefully, she immediately notice that the bandages around his hands were blood soaked. Carefully undoing the buttons on his shirt, she checked to see if those keeping his ribs from moving too much were clean and if the bruise on his stomach had grown since last night. Thankfully the bruise had not increased since she had checked it and the bandages on his chest needed only a minor readjustment to re-secure them. The bandage between his thighs needed to be changed and so did the ones on his feet. With quick and efficient practiced movements, Sylva started by taking off the stained bandages on Ravus' feet where she found the bleeding soles to have gotten infected despite her best attempts to clean them last evening. She swore, about to turn around to look through her medical bag when Luna was by her side with the bag in hand. ''Here. What can I do to help?'' She said, her eyes determined to help. Sylva smiled, ''Thank you, Do you think you can hold his foot up one by one while I clean them and bandage it properly?'' Luna nodded and Sylva dug through her bag to find the antiseptic and antibacterial potions to clean the infected injuries.

Lance had waited to see if Sylva or Luna needed his help with something, when Luna made her way towards him with shaky legs, he raised one arm as an invitation to hug him but the girl shook her head, knelling down to hide her face in her two dogs' fur. ''Its going to be ok, my wife is very good at her job. Your brother will be fine.'' Luna nodded mutely, face still hidden for a few more seconds before she lifted her eyes and looked at the bag she remembered emptying last evening. The young Oracle to be stood back up in order to go grab it from where it had been left on the floor and brought it back to Sylva just as the nurse was about to go look for it. Seeing Luna and Sylva would be fine without his help, Lance looked at the time and started getting ready for the long day he had ahead of him. He remembered to keep the door unlocked in case Sylva needed to come in for any reason and kept an ear open for anyone calling him but otherwise went about his usual pre-conference routine.

Sylva showed Luna how to properly put down towels under her brother's feet to prevent the bed to be stained with the cleaning agents then how to hold the foot properly to allow Sylva to clean all the marks properly. As the nurse started debriding the right foot, trying her best to keep any painful stimulus to a minimum, Ravus started groaning and shifting around. Sylva stopped what she was doing, wondering if trying to wake the boy up might be better so he wouldn't panic as much from the pain but Luna simply placed his foot down and made her way quickly to rest her forehead against his. She whispered something too low for Sylva to hear as he husband started his shower but saw a bright white light spark between them before Ravus settled down. His breathing now calmer and less pained. Luna turned around to take her place back, noticing the questioning look Sylva sent her way, ''I can't heal him properly yet but I can help him sleep.'' The young girl explained softly.

Sylva nodded and returned to debriding the injured soles, she cut off the various strip of dead skin that were peeling off and thoroughly checked for anything that she might have missed during her first cleaning of his feet. She didn't find anything and satisfied with the way the injuries now looked, still red, raw, bleeding and the edges of each injuries hot and oozing pus but much better then when she had started; Sylva bandaged the foot and repeated the same thing to Ravus' other foot. Lance had finished his shower and had put his clothes back on, leaving the suite to go grab the bags left overnight in their car so he could grab one of his suits.

By the time the two ladies were done finished with changing the various bandages on Ravus' fever ridden body, Sylva had asked and gotten Luna's permission to start an IV to give Ravus some antibiotics, liquids and something to help bring down the somewhat high fever the teenager's tired body was dealing with. Luna was a bit surprised to see Sylva got up to a closed cupboard and pull out everything she needed to prepare the IV. She noticed the surprised look and explained, ''The owner here keeps this suite as an emergency clinic in case of troubles, usually its empty in case one of his partners needs it for treatments but Lance and I always stay here when we come to Tenebrae since I'm a nurse and won't ask questions if someone suddenly shows up needing medical assistance.'' She finished preparing what she needed and brought it all beside Ravus to start the treatment. Luna stayed close to her brother, slowly threading her finger through his dirty hair in an effort to over a bit of comfort to him, ''What about if the army comes to ask for us?'' the girl wondered, biting her lower lip in worry.

Sylva finished verifying that the IV was properly infusion before answering, ''They wont find you.'' Her voice was confident and seemed almost amused at the idea. Luna looked up from Ravus, ''Why are you so sure….'' She asked, still worried. Sylva smiled at the child, wordlessly asking for permission to sit beside her and waited until Luna nodded before doing so. Before she could explain Lance arrived carrying a tray of breakfast food into the room, Luna blushed at the hungry growl her stomach produced as she smelled the scents of freshly baked pancakes among other things. Sylva and Lance shared an amused look, the nurse standing up to move a small table between both beds. Lance had heard Lunafreya's worry and set about answering her previous question, ''We are both very certain no one will find you here because this room is hidden. The suite was created for people who wanted added privacy and security for whatever reason and so it was built with this hidden room at the middle. There are only 2 ways of accessing it. One is the way we came in last night, the elevator and via the official suite but either way will only open if the person holds this unique key.'' He put the tray down between the beds and showed Luna a single odd shaped key that had seemingly random indentations on it.

''Not only do you need the key, you also need to know where the keyhole is. And if you're worried about someone trying to track you by name, the room is under ours and the suite appears booked under another name completely for added protection. The Niflheim army could walk up and look through all of the suites and room and not find any trace of you or your brother. It certaintly wouldn't be the first time Kelter did that!'' Sylva added with a laugh. Luna stared at the two who had put their lives on the line in order to help her and her brother. She couldn't decide whether they were extraordinary or simply reckless and very lucky. Luna picked up a plate, looking at the pancakes and the choices of fruits, chocolate and syrup she could add to it. A few cups were on the edge of the tray beside a coffee thermos, all three of them taking some as they ate in a relatively peaceful atmosphere. Once Lance finished eating, he finished his morning routine and after a kiss to Sylva, bid Luna a good day, '' I'll be back before supper. It's only scheduled maintenance and final checks so don't hesitate to contact me if any of you need anything.''

The rest of the morning went by slowly for Luna as she stayed by Ravus' side for all of it except for the quick shower Sylva convinced her to take. Lunch passed by with Ravus' fever dropping considerably thanks to the medicine that could be found in the room but Lunafreya was growing increasingly worried the longer Ravus spent sleeping. Sylva tried to explain that sleep was the best thing for her brother and that she should try to rest as well but the sudden change from being a prisoner in her own home to being saved by strangers made it hard for the 13 year old to get any rest. Even Umbra and Pryna could only do so much to help the young oracle stay calm and Gentianna had yet to show up since her disappearance right before the Argentum's had arrived at the Manor. Sylva kept a close eye on both Nox Fleurets while she took out the stolen pre-signed letters from Finor and amused herself with creating some chaos in between her frequent checks on Ravus' condition. She wrote a letter straight to the Emperor, detailing a fake assassination attempt orchestrated by Chancellor Izunia with the help of several high ranking military leaders and the researcher Besithia. Another one was addressed to the head of the Niflheim intelligence network, whose name and title Sylva had found on the black market auction sheet, practically blackmailing the man with the amount of money he was 'borrowing' from the Empire's coffer to sustain his sexual habits in return for Finor being protected from any attempts to remove him from his current position as Lord Regent of Tenebrae. She took a break from writing to undo the quick stitches that she had made to create the fake maid uniform and soaked the bloody parts into water with the bloody clothing of her husband. Replacing the rest in her medical bag as extra towels and wipes took care of any trace of yesterday's activities.

She returned to the small desk to write some more letters. Several of them were sent to various military commanders, requesting more troops be moved to assist in the removal of last remnants of Tenebraen resistance hiding in the abandoned nearby mines. Sylva added several orders to the men sent, as far as any of the commanders were aware, each of them were the only ones asked to help the Lord Regent in return for a title of nobility. The men had to be sent undercover and were given permission to kill all those who would show up at the mines at a time specified to be a month away. Once she exhausted all the stolen letters in similar fashion, Sylva decided to start on a small lunch. She checked one last time on Luna and the still unconscious Ravus, noticing the drop in temperature, before heading out of the secret room to call the front desk to bring up some ingredients from the kitchen to make a soup. She hummed to herself as she started getting everything she needed ready to make the meal when Lance called to check in.

Lance had left the suite by the official door, the new conference center within easy walking distance from the hotel. He waved at the 2 receptionists as he left and stopped right outside the door with a sigh of relief, basking in the warm morning sun. The walk took less than 20 minutes, Lance being one of the few walking through the streets at the early hours of the touristic area and his arrival at the conference center was greeted by shouts from colleagues, ''Lance! Glad to see you could make the trip! How's your family doing?'' asked one of them, a speaker who specialized in talks about resource management. Lance grinned in reply, ''Nice to see you too Jean, my family is doing quite well and what about yours? I heard you adopted another child not too long ago?'' Jean extended a hand which Lance shook before both men headed through the front doors, guarded by MT's.

The conference center was very large, its domed ceiling painted with various quotes that were supposed to be inspirational. The floor of the entrance was made of marble and a receptionist was quick to greet the two men as they approached, ''Welcome to the new Finor Conference Center! How may I help you?'' Jean answered evenly, ''I am Jean Talon and this is Lance Argentum, we are both invited speakers to the opening conference for this lovely center.'' The receptionist bowed low, before pointing towards one of the rising escalators, ''Please go up and enter the second room to your left. Once all the invited speakers have arrived someone will be along to commence the tour and go over the schedules and everything requested by each speaker for their turn.'' Lance nodded, offering the lady a smile before following Jean up.

They soon found themselves among other colleagues and speakers, most of whom Lance had met previously at a previous job _._ It wasn't long before they were all chatting and after an hour or so the scheduled verification of the equipment and order of speakers was done. Just as the group were about to stop for lunch, a commotion sounded outside the main auditorium where they were all gathered in. The door were pushed open by two MT's, standing on guard on either side as the Lord Regent himself walked through the doors, followed by his personal guards to approach the motionless group.

Finor was looking for someone as he walked determinedly over, finally meeting Lance's eye with a narrow glare of a hunter looking for his prey. The Lord Regent stopped right in front of Lance, who had gotten up and now offered the man a bow. '' Lord Finor, I am pleased to see you. Were you able to tame the fire before it caused excessive damage to the historical Nox Fleuret Manor?'' Finor responded politely, eyes looking for any signs of Lance lying or being nervous, ''As am I to see you safely reached a hotel after your sudden departure last night. The fire was contained shortly after you left unfortunately I seem to have misplaced some items of great value during the fire and I am here to see if you knew where these things might have disappeared too.''

Lance looked pensive, '' Items? Perhaps if you were to specify which items you misplaced I could be of better assistance?'' The speaker proposed, ignoring the confused looks of his colleagues. Finor was starting to bristle with impatience, ''You know of what I am talking about!'' Lance bowed to the man, ''I am afraid I do not Lord Regent. Of course, if you so strongly believe I have something to do with whatever items you cannot find then I invite you to look through my things to your hearts content.'' Finor relaxed a slight bit, looking less angry and nodded, '' Thank you for your assistance. I do not see the use of looking through your bags since the items are much too large to be hidden in such small things but if I recall correctly, you and your wife are staying at the Oracles Hotel?'' Lance nodded and Finor grinned, clasping both of Lance's shoulders. ''Good, I will order some men to look through your room then, now why don't we go out to have lunch? The food you can find here is not worth mentioning. We shall eat together at Simonie's, my teat as an apology for my rudeness and paranoia.'' Lance sighed but accepted the invitation, he grabbed his bag and then his cell phone.

Finor looked at Lance as the man dialed a number quickly, Lance explaining to the Lord, '' My wife has a tendency to take a shower at this time of the day. I will simply let her know to wait until your men have finished their jobs before she does so.'' ''Ah, of course, by all means. It would be unfortunate if she were to be put in an awkward situation though it would not do for her to be worried needlessly about my misplaced items.'' Finor waved off the explanation, his interest suddenly gone as he turned around to give his orders. Lance waited as the phone rang twice before his wife answered.

''Hey Love, how was your morning?'' Sylva asked, humming to herself as she double checked everything on the counter. Lance smiled at the sound of her voice, ''Hello yourself beautiful, my morning was ordinary as expected. Were you able to do what you wanted?'' Sylva stopped what she was doing as she heard Lance greet her, when they had first started dating Lance had been in a situation that made meeting with her openly difficult and so Sylva had half-jokingly created a code for different situations. Since Lance had moved to Insomnia, they had only used the code to tease each other as part of an ongoing game of word tag but the use of the word beautiful when Lance was talking to her on the phone was a red flag. She moved away from the kitchen and closer to the secret room, ready to move if needed. ''Mostly, I'm still waiting on someone to call me but everything else was done on time. When do you think you'll be back?'' Sylva waited breathlessly for an answer. Lance smiled, casting a look at Jean before replying, ''I meet an old friend here so I don't know exactly when but just so you know the Lord Regent has sent people to pick up some of my old speeches he asked about last night. I know you like to keep your routine as much as possible but I don't know when they'll be passing by. Can you stick around until they grab what they need?'' Sylva replied, ''Got it! I'll make sure they find what they need without any trouble. Have fun at the conference dearest!'' Lance felt a tap on his shoulder and was met with one of the guards waiting impatiently for him. With a final goodbye, Lance finished the call and with a wave to his colleagues left the auditorium escorted by the guard.

In the suite, Sylva was contacting Kelter. ''Kelter, we're about to have imperial guests, mind stalling them for 5 minutes once they arrive? I need to clean up a bit.'' Kelter chuckled, ''That would explain the cars pulling up. You have 10. Try not to clean too much.'' The conversation was brief and to the point, leaving Sylva smirking as she returned to the kitchen and put away the extra plates she had taken out for Luna and in case Ravus woke up. Once that was done, she headed back to where Luna was still sitting by Ravus' side. The soundproof walls meant that Luna hadn't heard anything and Sylva quickly explained the situation, giving Luna the key to the room as she did, ''Finor noticed you and your brother are missing, he sent some troops to check if we were involved.'' Luna tensed, her hand gripping the lax one of her brother harder, Sylva offered her a smile, ''Remember what Lance and I told you, you and your brother are safe here. I'm going to move our bags and then close the door. Don't open it until you get a call.'' Sylva pointed to the phone hidden at the corner of the room, ''Don't answer it. I'll call twice and both time let it ring 8 times before hanging up. Anything else and you stay put.'' Luna took a shuddering breath, eye wide with fear and worry but still determined to protect Ravus as much as she could. ''Alright, please be careful .'' Sylva smiled, ''Call me Sylva or Auntie if youd prefer!'' she added the last thing as a joke, turning quickly around to pick up the bags and missing the way Luna reacted to her name with a silent gasp.

Sylva quickly gathered all the bags belonging to Lance and herself, leaving Luna's things alone before closing the door firmly behind her and making sure the keyhole was properly hidden by the heavy looking bookcase. A soft click told her that the hidden locking mechanism that added the proper weight to the bottom of the bookcase was doing its job correctly. She placed the various bags into the center bedroom, only hanging the suits that Lance planned on wearing the next day but leaving the rest on the bed of floor. She didn't try to hide the bloody clothes or the medical kit, knowing that Lance wouldn't mind her excuse for their state if someone asked about it. A brisk knock on the door had her smiling as she made her way to the door to allow their guests in. ''Hello Kelter! And you must be the men sent to pick up some of Lance's stuff. I do apologies for the trouble.'' Declared Sylva as she invited the group of 10 MTs and 2 imperial soldiers that were waiting behind Kelter.

Kelter nodded to the nurse, ''Sorry for disturbing your routine Sylva, how was your morning?'' he asked as the MT went straight to spreading out and using their sensors to search the suite bit by bit. Sylva smiled to the hotel owner, ''Dont worry about it, its kinda our fault for leaving without giving Lord Regent Finor what my husband had talked about if anything I should be apologising for the trouble our late arrival caused you and for this.'' Kelter leaned against the open door, crossing his arms carelessly, giving the woman a shrug as they both watched the MTs and guards move around. ''I hope they don't break anything.'' Sighed Sylva to which Kelter shrugged, '' If they do then I'll bill the Lord Regent for it. I'm sure he'll pay for any repairs.'' Sylva had to restrain a chuckle as the two human guard tensed at Kelter's subtle threat, she could easily guess that Finor wouldn't be the one paying for any damage but rather these two Niflheim guards would be forced to foot the bill on whatever salary they were given.

In didn't take long for the bloody clothes to be found soaking in the cold water filling the bath tub, one of the guard going up to Sylva threateningly, ''Why is there bloody clothes belonging to a man in the bath tub?'' Sylva allowed herself to blush a bit, looking away to glance at Kelter as though embarrassed, '' I'm afraid that a personal matter between me and my husband.'' The guard took a step forward only to stop before doing anything else as Kelter started laughing until he had to gasp for breath, the guard staring at the hotel owner like he had grown a second head. Sylva pouting as she glared at Kelter, ''Dont you dare tell him. Its private!'' She hissed to no apparent effect as Kelter sighed, still laughing and shaking his head in amusement, ''Whats so funny?'' asked the guard thoroughly confused while the second human guard approached having been alerted by the laughter of the conversation from one of the side rooms.

Kelter grinned widely, ''Sorry, sorry; it just that Sylva and Lance came here for their honeymoon and well…'' He cast a wicked grin towards Sylva, ''We had to repaint the whole room when they left because of the blood left all over the place from their sessions. I even got invited to share with her.'' He pointed his thumb at Sylva, who hide her face behind her hands, trying to contain her laughter at Kelter's usual excuse for any bloody clothe found within the hotel when they shouldn't be there. The two guards looked confused before the younger one turned a bright red and stammered, ''I..l see…. Umm thank you for the explanation. I believe we are done here…'' The older guard stared at his younger partner in confusion but soon turned red himself as the younger guard leaned to explain what Kelter was implying.

Having found nothing unusual past the bloody clothes, the guards simply accepted Sylva's help in choosing a few speeches to bring back to their master before leaving, the room generally undisturbed by their visit. As Sylva walked back up with Kelter after having escorted the men out of the hotel, she could no longer contain her laughter at the flustered expression of the guards had been sporting as they left. Kelter chuckled as well, ''That went well.'' Sylva nodded, ''When doesn't it? Though did you have to add my invitation to your explanation?'' she teased him gently. Kelter grinned, ''I enjoyed your invitation back then and used the lessons well even today, so why not give them some truth?'' Sylva ribbed him, '' Teaching you how to plan a prank is very different from teaching you how to properly do a BDSM session with a consenting partner.''

Kelter grinned and left the nurse at the door of her suite with a mocking bow and last teasing words, ''I'm looking forward to your next invitation.'' Sylva shook her head in mock exasperation as she watched the owner leave her alone. She made her way back inside the suite, taking the phone up and composing the number to the inner room twice, allowing it to ring 8 times before hanging up both times. After a minute or so, the door opened quietly and Luna peaked out cautiously. Sylva smiled, ''They're gone and I doubt they'll be back anytime soon.'' Luna pushed the door wider, ''Thank you for your help.'' She said then cast a glance back to the hidden room before nodding once and returning her attention to the nurse. ''Is everything alright Lunafreya?'' Asked Sylva moving closer to look over the child's body into the room. The nurse tensed up as she saw a tall black haired woman standing beside Ravus' bed silently.

''Who?'' Sylva gasped as she started to move toward the intruder, Luna suddenly standing in front of her with raised hands, ''It ok! Its just Gentianna!'' Sylva stopped looking from the Oracle to the unknown lady who was turned to face Sylva, her eyes closed tightly. The woman bowed towards the nurse undisturbed by the commotion, ''I am Gentianna, a messenger of the Astrals, sent to guide the Oracle in her fate.'' Sylva frowned but returned the bow, ''You honor me with your presence, how may I help you and those you serve?'' Luna walked back to stand beside her divine guide, looking up to her expectantly. Gentianna smiled towards Luna before addressing Sylva, ''The Oracle's healing comes from the Astral's gift but it grows stronger through experience and knowledge. You have what Lunafreya lacks in both knowledge and experience. I would ask you to teach your skills to her in order to help her become the Oracle she is fated to be.''

Sylva was stunned for a few minutes then tilted her head and crossed her arms with a thoughtful hum. '' If I understood you correctly, the Oracle's ability to heal relies on their knowledge of the human body? I'm assuming so since it the only knowledge I could really teach her.'' Gentianna smiled in amusement and inclined her head in agreement, ''That will suffice to begin with.'' Sylva sighed, looked to Luna who was looking back at her, a new found confidence in her posture and hope replacing the fear previously there. The nurse smiled at the look, relaxing completely since seeing the divine messenger standing beside her patient's bed, and told Luna, ''If that's what you'd like then I have no problem doing so.'' As she turned to look back at the stranger being named Gentianna, she found the room empty of her presence. As she stared openly at Gentianna's sudden disappearance, Luna gave a soft laughter at the nurse expression. Sylva returned to look at the smiling child and with an amused sigh motioned for Luna to join her beside Ravus. '' We might as well start now and see if we cant wake your brother up before Lance gets back.'' Luna nodded, grinning and hurried to the nurse's side to start learning about the human body. Sylva only pausing long enough to send Lance a quick text saying that everything had gone without a hitch before giving her new student her full attention.

Lance was quickly escorted to where Finor was waited in the back seat of his car, Lance joining him at the back without a word. The driver quickly started the car, driving them the short distance to the restaurant Finor had mentioned in the auditorium. A valet opened the door for Finor to get out while Lance made his own way out and had to hurry to catch up to the overbearing lord. The lunch was almost a continuation of last evening's dinner, albeit a bit more tense then Lance remembered. They had been there for about half an hour before one of the guards walked up to whisper in Finor's ear. Lance kept eating as he watched Finor relax completely the more the man talked. The Lord Regent turned to smile genuinely to Lance, ''It appears I owe you an apology, my men didn't find my misplaced items. Please consider this meal my apologies for my rudeness at thinking you were some kind of enemy.'' Lance dipped his head slightly in acceptance of the apology, ''Please do not worry about such things, Lord Finor. A man in your position has many worries and must have made many enemies. I am simply wish you good luck in finding whatever items you cannot find.'' The lord smiled and got up, motioning for Lance to stay seated, '' Please do finish your meal in all tranquility. My guards will bring you back to the Finor Conference Center once you are ready to leave. I must be on my way. I believe we shall cross each other during the coming week.''

Lance leaned back as he watched the man saunter out of the restaurant, waving away the servant impatiently and leaving Lance alone with a single imperial guard. The speaker sighed and after a few seconds of contemplation invited his guard to join in, ''There is a lot of food here, it would be a waste to let it be thrown away because Lord Finor was in a hurry.'' The guard looked shocked and hesitated, Lance smiled and added, ''Please join me. I dislike eating alone.'' He spent the rest of the lunch chatting with the guard about trivialities such as his doubtless schedule and where he believes the misplace items could be, though in a more indirect manner. He received Sylva's message as he left the restaurant with his new friend and smiled lovingly at it. The afternoon passing by quickly once he returned to the conference center to finish verifying all his preparations.

Lance bid Jean goodbye at around 5, wanting to return back to help Sylva cook supper. He stopped at a grocery store that was hidden underneath one of the beauty shops, having asked the receptionist for the location of the nearest store, and purchased the ingredients he needed for some chicken pasta dish he hadn't made in quite a while. Just as he left the store, Lance felt his phone warn him of an incoming message. Lance had to reread it twice before going back in and towards the nearest worker, ''I'm sorry to disturb you but do you sell any hair dye?'' The worker thought for a moment before answering, ''I'm afraid not but you can buy some at the beauty shop upstairs.'' Lance thanked them and quickly made his way to the shop in question. He repeated his question to one of the ladies working there and was quickly brought to a section of the store filled with rows and rows of hair dye.

''Are you looking for something in particular? A specific shade perhaps? Is it for you or someone else?'' Asked the lady in quick succession. Lance was a bit shocked at the amount of choices facing him and knowing when he was outclassed, simply called Sylva. Sylva answered the phone with a laugh, ''Having trouble Lance?'' Lance sighed as he answered mildly amused at her own amusement, ''I don't know why you're asking me to buy hair dye but I apparently need more information to buy the correct thing.'' Sylva chuckled, ''I see, well our older guest finally woke up and since we'll be here until the end of the conference, I figured that they would want to spend some time outside of the suite. Hair dye will allow them to do that easily enough and we can go shopping for clothes tomorrow.'' Lance felt his body relax at the new of Ravus' awakening, ''That's great! All right then, what color were thinking about?'' He told his helper the answers to each of her questions and found himself with 2 bottles of hair dye in a shade of dirty blond that reminded him of a mix between Ignis and Prompto.

Lance quickly made his way back to his suite after making the last purchase, eager to see how the two children were fairing now that the immediate danger was gone. He opened the door of the suite to be greeted by the laughter of a young girl and the annoyed huff of an older brother being teased. Lance stared at seeing Ravus standing by himself, looking almost perfectly healthy except for the continued thinnest from malnourishment and the bags under his eyes betraying his tiredness. Sylva smiled from where she sat on the couch watching Luna pester Ravus about going back to bed and rest some more and glanced up when Lance arrived. ''Good you got here quickly.'' Sylva got up and moved to tug Lance into the suite and closed the door behind him. She grabbed the bottles of hair dye and tossed a bottle to both children with a quick, ''Catch.''

Luna caught it with both hands while Ravus struggled to move quickly enough to do so, fumbling with it until he managed to grasp it properly. ''And what exactly do you expect us to do?'' the young man asked, reaching out to touch Luna's shoulder as though needing a reminder of her presence. Sylva smiled and explained, ''We'll be here for a bit over a week and I'm sure you'll be bored if you end up being stuck in the hotel all day long. But if you dye your hair and with some new clothes and a little bit of make up before leaving the suite then you'll be able to go anywhere in town without being recognized.'' Ravus tensed up, ''No!'' He shook his head, ''Its too dangerous to stay here any longer. We need to leave quickly.'' He brought Luna close to him protectively, glancing between Sylva and Lance as though expecting either of them to get mad.

Instead, both shared a glance and Sylva motioned for Lance to do the explaining to the frightened teenager. Lance nodded, turning to look squarely at Ravus without moving from where he was, ''And that's why its safer to stay in Tenebrae for a while longer.'' Ravus looked confused, looking down to where Luna was rubbing her hands soothingly over his hand, now scarred. Lance continued, ''Finor has already looked here and by now, will have ordered a complete lockdown of the city, trying to leave now would be dangerous because that is what he expects from both of you. Except, he is looking for two platinum blond sibling, an older brother and his younger sister, if your appearance changes enough then no one will recognize either of you and you will be even safer.'' Ravus hesitated, turning over the logic in his tired mind. Luna stood on her toes to brush a hand gently on Ravus' cheek, ''I agree with them too. They've proven trustworthy so far and Gentianna told me we can trust them. Please Ravus, we both need to rest and get stronger before doing anything else.'' Ravus sighed and then nodded, ''Very well. I suppose I can do this if it make you feel better sister.'' Luna smiled, shot a grateful look at the couple and starting dragging Ravus into one of the bathrooms to get started.

Lance sighed, ''I wasn't expecting him to be up like that, and who is Gentianna?'' Sylva smiled, '' I'll tell you as we get supper ready.'' They both moved to the kitchen, Sylva taking out the ingredients Lance bought and guessed the meal he wanted to make easily enough, ''Your chicken pasta?'' She exclaimed delighted, Lance nodded pouring water into a large pot to start the water boiling. '' Is that ok for them?'' Sylva gave her worried husband a quick kiss. ''Yes, it will be fine. Now to answer your question. Gentianna is apparently one of the divine messengers of the Astrals. She has been charged with keeping an eye on Luna for a while. She appeared to speak with Luna while I was dealing with the over eager guards and asked me to teach Luna a few things to help make her a better Oracle.'' Lance stopped what he was doing to stare at his wife in shock, making her giggle at his open mouth expression of shock, ''I know! But I couldn't simply refuse so I started teaching Luna a few things. She already had a good grasp of human anatomy but it turns out that the healing of the Oracle works one of two ways. For a physical injury, the healing happens by the Oracle sharing her energy to speed up the bodies healing but she has to know how the injury should heal in the first place. The other way has to do with the scourge and we didn't really talk about that yet.''

Lance nodded, returning his attention to preparing the supper for the four of them as he listened. Sylva gently shoved him and continued, ''So since Ravus was in need of healing and the healing either works or doesn't, I had her practice healing him while I guided her through the healing process of each type of injuries. Ravus woke up once Luna finished healing the worst of his injuries but they were both tired. I explained the situation to Ravus in general with Luna's help before they both had a nap. Luna just finished healing the rest of Ravus' bruises about 40 minutes ago.'' By this time, Ravus and Luna were back in the large center room of the suite, hair carefully covered in the plastic cap provided with the dye. Lance noticed the way Ravus kept within arm's reach of his sister, recognizing the flash of fear that passed through his eyes every so often as the trauma it was. Sylva obviously shared his concern as she offered the children to watch a movie while supper was finished. Ravus followed Luna to curl together on the couch, arguing teasingly about the choices of movies available before settling on an old documentary about the natural life that existed on the Duscae Plains. Once the food was ready, Sylva and Lance carefully brought the four sets of plates to the living room, handing the food to the children before finding their own seat close by.

The adults watched with some worry as both of the children seemed to struggle with eating their portions. Luna only eating half of what she had in her plate and Ravus eating even less. Lance called out, ''Is everything alright? If you don't like it I can make something else or we can order in from somewhere.'' Luna shook her head quickly, '' No it good… its just…'' She stopped leaning a bit more into her brother. Ravus sighed, putting his plate on the small table in front of the couch and started rubbing his sister's back. ''It taste very good I simply don't have much of an appetite at the moment.'' Sylva frowned then nodded, putting her plate aside to move to stand beside them and quickly checking their temperature. ''Both of you have a small fever. I'm sorry I should have thought about this possibility before hand.'' She turned to look thoughtfully at the kitchen for a few moments before suggesting, ''What about smoothies?'' Luna looked up hopefully while Ravus frowned a bit, ''That might be easier to take in our current situation.'' Sylva nodded, ''All right then, I'll go down to the kitchen and grab some fruits and ice cream to make it for everyone. Any requests?'' Ravus shook his head but Luna grinned happily and asked, ''Can I get strawberries and chocolate?'' Sylva nodded, ''Sure. You can ask Lance to send me a message if you change your mind, Ravus. I'll be back soon!'' The nurse quickly leaving the suite and heading down to the kitchen to gather the things she needed.

Left alone with the two children, Lance finished his own meal, keeping an eye on the siblings while they watched the documentary, or rather Luna watched it while Ravus spent most of his time watching her and her reactions to the show. Lance got up, picking up the plates left on the table as well as his own to put away the food and wash the dishes, he wasn't expecting Ravus to move to stand hesitantly beside him. Lance cast a look at the teen, waiting for Ravus to speak patiently. ''Thank you. Luna told me you were the one who saved me from where I was held.'' Lance turned to look at the young man who refused to meet his gaze. ''It was my pleasure to help you both. What happened to you was.. is absolutely wrong.'' He noticed the flinch that Ravus had at the words, catching the flicker of his gaze as Ravus looked quickly up to his expression. Lance read guilt and shame in those eyes as well as deep confusion, ''Would you like to talk about what happened?'' he offered, returning to washing the dishes so Ravus would hopefully feel a bit more comfortable talking. Ravus stayed quiet then said whispered, ''I should have been there for her.'' Lance kept quiet, simply tilting his head to acknowledge the statement.

Ravus took a deep shuttering breath, ''It's my fault Luna was captured. If I hadn't frozen, if mother hadn't… hadn't died protecting me then she could have fled with Regis. She only stayed because of me…'' Lance slowly put down the dish he was washing, drying his hands before turning to look at Ravus, who looked much younger as he tried to control his heaving chest. A flicker toward the living room of the suite showed Luna looking worried at her brother's back then meeting Lance's eyes. Lance nodded to the young girl before turning to focus his attention to the shattered boy in front of him. ''Can I touch you Ravus?'' He asked just as quietly, Ravus hesitated, his hands opening and closing fitfully for several long moments before he nodded once. Lance slowly took the steps separating them, giving Ravus the time to change his mind if he wanted before gently bringing the tall and thin boy into a hug. '' Nothing that happened was your fault. I know you don't believe me but it's the truth. The only people who bear any blame in the violence that hurt you and your family are the Niflheim commanders and soldiers who ordered and carried out those orders.''

He felt the boy raise his hands to grasp Lance's shirt as he hid his face in the crook of Lance's neck. Lance slowly started rubbing Ravus' back the way he had done to Luna a few minutes ago. He waited patiently for Ravus to calm down a bit before speaking again, ''Whatever you did by choice or because you were forced you did in order to survive. There is no shame in that, your love for your sister kept you strong and alive until today. You're here with her and us now. When the conference is over, we'll leave and bring you to Insomnia.'' Ravus tensed at the name, hands grasping into his shirt even more, Lance stopped and asked, ''Whats wrong?''

Ravus didn't answer at first not until Luna walked up to join in on the hug, Ravus lifting his tear line face to look at her, swallowing before he spoke, ''King Regis abandoned us during the invasion why would he help us now?'' He hissed, voice tainted by anger but also.. confusion? Lance looked carefully at Ravus under the kitchen lights thinking thoroughly about what to say before talking, ''Ravus, why do you say that King Regis abandoned you?'' Ravus looked down, forcing his hands to relax their grip on Lance's shirt and taking a few steps away from the man, his body tense in a way that showed more fear of being hit rather than anger. Lance reacted to the body language carefully, stepping away to lean against the counter with his hands in plain sight and forced his body to assume a fully relaxed position. Ravus looked a bit surprise and some of the fear drained away as he seemed to search Lance for something.

The professional speaker smiled and waited patiently, allowing Ravus to do what he had to in order to feel comfortable enough to speak again. ''He was the reason why Niflheim invaded. And then he just ran off with his son and never looked back.'' There was some hesitation in the teenager's words, like he didn't really believe what he was saying but rather was repeating something he had been told. Lance wouldn't be surprised if that was the case, ''Do you really believe that?'' He pushed a bit, needing to see Ravus react to his question to decide how to proceed from there. Ravus hesitated, his gaze dropping to look at the ground, teeth grinding against each other as he seemed to struggle with himself then all of the sudden his body relaxed and Ravus whispered, '' I don't know… I don't…. I….'' Luna held unto Ravus as her brother slowly knelt down on the kitchen floor, curling unto himself in an attempt to keep himself together through the confusion and trauma of the last year or so.

Luna looked up to Lance who slowly moved towards the boy, stopping at a respectable distance where Ravus could still feel his presence without being overwhelmed. ''Its ok Ravus, I understand this must be very confusing for you after what you've gone through but let me repeat myself, nothing that happened was your fault. The emotions you are feeling are normal and its ok to feel like that. I wish I could just wave my hand and help you feel better but these kind of things take a long time to heal and that is also ok. You aren't alone, not anymore. You have your sister beside you and you have me and Sylva.'' Ravus gave a shuddering breath at Sylva's name, Lance looked over to see Luna mouth, 'Our mother's name' to him as she returned the backrub from earlier. Lance nodded, sitting comfortably on the kitchen floor and offered his silent support as Ravus was finally able to grieve his mother's death without fear of being injured for it.

Sylva arrived with a bag full of fruits and some chocolate ice cream, took one look at the kitchen and dropped everything to join her husband in offering her support. Ravus took one glance at Sylva through tear filled eyes and almost threw himself on her, Sylva holding Ravus just as tight as he was holding unto her and after a little while, motioned for Luna to join in which she did with her own tears joining her brother's. Lance smiled at his wife and set about taking over the creations of the smoothies for the children. The rumbling sound of the blender helping Ravus calm down and center himself around the resent moments and the cold feeling of the blended drink being slipped into his hand helped even more. The whole family found themselves snuggling on a single couch, Ravus and Luna in between Lance and Sylva until it was time for them to wash off the hair dye, forgotten until then. The two children who emerged from their separate bathroom in borrowed clothes and with dirty blond hair looked very little like the Nox Fleuret the Niflheim would be looking forward. That night, Lance and Sylva pushed two of the queen sized bed together and repeated the same position as they had on the couch.

Squished between Lance and Sylva, Ravus only woke up three times from his nightmares to be drawn out of his panicked state by both adults quickly and resettled into sleep within half an hour each time. Luna also had her own nightmare but only woke up once, taking a deep breath and feeling the presence of the other three surrounding her plus the near constant ones of her dogs before slipping back into her dreams. The next few days soon took a steady routine; Lance would wake up at 6 to get ready for the conference, leaving an hour later just as Sylva woke up. While Lance worked, Sylva would allow both children to sleep until they woke up on their own, Ravus often waking up but choosing to remain tucked by Luna's side until she woke up. They had some breakfast and then Luna would spend a few hours with Sylva teaching her about the healing process of the human body while Ravus read some books that were in the room. They had lunch and then left the hotel to go walk through the city. The first time they did so, Ravus and Luna were unbelievable tense and stressed despite the reassuring presence and confidence that was Sylva. When they realized that no one even looked at them for more than a passing glance, they were able to relax and start enjoying their new found freedom. Lance would meet them after the conference was done for the day and they would return to the hotel for supper.

On some nights, Ravus and Lance would leave again to go unto the hotel rooftop to talk about whatever Ravus wanted to talk about while on others they stayed all together to watch a movie or play some games. Sylva and Lance called Prompto every night except for the first 2 nights, checking in on their son without letting the boy know what they were doing themselves. The nights still brought about nightmares for both of the Nox Fleuret and both had moments of complete panic whenever MT's wondered too closely to them but thankfully Sylva was able to predict such situation and diminish its chance of happening. On the last day of their trip, Sylva helped Luna and Ravus pack their new things into the bags she had bought for them and helped bring it all into the car. One final meal followed by a relaxing evening ended their stay in Tenebrae and Sylva couldn't wait to see just how much chaos her revenge would cause once things started falling unto each other. She would be able to see the results of the letters and changed reports from the safety of Insomnia's Wall while teasing Cor about her success.

The trip out of the city went without a problem, none of the guards looking twice at the two children sitting tensely on the back seat of the old car, each holding unto a blanket covered dog. Ravus stared in shock as the Argentum's family car passed through the heavily guarded gates without anyone wiser to the presence of the surviving members of the Royal Tenebrae family. The trip back to Insomnia took a few days, with the addition of two dogs and two children in the car making frequent stops a necessity, not that either Lance or Sylva worried about it. A simple call made to Cor from Sylva guaranteed that their delayed arrival would not cause trouble for their jobs at the Citadel and Sylva's teasing request, ''We bring royal gifts from our trip, King Regis and Prince Noctis will want to be there to accept them.'' had the Marshall ordering the gate keepers to warn him of their arrival into the city. It didn't prepare any of them to the sight of Ravus and Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, having returned to their natural color once out of the Niflheim controlled areas, stepping out of Lance's old car while Sylva grinned in amusement at the expressions spreading in front of her like a cat at a fish buffet. Lance shook his head and poked his wife gently, ''Worth it?'' He asked simply. Sylva turned, her grin wicked as she leaned to kiss him passionately, ''Always.''

It was Noctis who shook off the surprise first, running up to hug Luna with a shout of pure joy followed closely by King Regis approaching the two children and bowing to them, '' I'm very glad to see you both safe and sound. I offer you my home as your own for as long as you desire it. I'm sorry I couldn't save you on that day.'' Ravus hesitated before returning the bow; his talks with Lance helping him make sense of what was going on in his mind even if it didn't make the whirlwind of emotions disappear. ''I forgive you and thank you for your kind offer King Regis. We have much to discuss but that can wait to a later date.'' Regis blinked at Ravus and then smiled and nodded, ''Of course, please I'm sure you are all tired. Lets retire to somewhere more comfortable for the evening.'' Bit by bit everyone made their way inside the Citadel, leaving only a few outside to help Lance and Sylva empty their car of baggage's. Cor was one of them, handing a few bags for Prompto, who had wheeled himself to see his parents as they kissed, to hold on his lap. The Marshall looked at the retreating crowd before turning to look at Sylva and Lance, ''You guys are crazy. I'm quite sure I told you not to get into trouble when you left!'' Sylva grinned, looking at her son in pure delight, ''I don't know what you're talking about Cor. We didn't get into any trouble.'' She then reached into one of the bags and gave Cor a small memory card. '' This is a gift for you. Have fun!'' She left the man standing there looking annoyed as he kept glancing between his childhood friend and the card in his hand. With a huff, Cor gave up and followed after the family as he finished helping them settle back into the apartment after close to two weeks away from their home and son. _At least now that they were back, Sylva wouldn't be able to do as much damage_ , thought Cor to himself despite knowing that was unlikely to ever happen when it came to the nurse, he corrected himself, _at least he would be able to see and help the next time she did something like that._ The Marshall smiled as he closed the door behind him and waited to hear their story as Prompto told them about his time with his Uncle Cor.


End file.
